Locked out stagehands protest outside Metropolitan Opera

By Associated Press |

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NEW YORK (AP) — Locked out stagehands of the Metropolitan Opera protested the company amid a crowd of about 1,000 that rallied outside Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, criticizing the company for constructing sets for three of next season’s new productions at nonunion shops. The Met has been shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic since March 11, 2020, canceling 276 performances but starts next season in September. The company stopped pay to unionized employees on March 31 last year because of the pandemic, while continuing health benefits. The stagehands’ contract expired last July 31, and that union was locked out Dec. 8.


Ronald Blum for the Associated Press